Last night, the Bruins selected Finnish defenseman Urho Vaakanainen with the #18 pick. Rounds 2 through 7 can be seen on the NHL Network starting at 10:00am EST (right now!). Today’s picks for the Bruins:

It’s draft day! Will the Bruins keep their #18 pick or move it for Scandella? Will they draft that Oettinger goalie guy? Stay tuned!

Live coverage is on NBC Sports Network, starting at 6:30pm EST. I think the first pick happens sometime after 7pm. Just the first round tonight. Rounds 2 through 7 tomorrow.

Here’s the Red Line Report’s top 32 prospects. Kirk Luedeke of Red Line likes center Lias Andersson at the #18 spot if the Bruins don’t move the pick. Consensus at Red Line for #18 is right winger Elias Petterson.

The Medal Round of the 2017 IIHF World Hockey Championships is today! Canada and Sweden face off for the gold medal at 2pm EST, while Russia and Finland battle for bronze at 10am EST. Both games can be seen on the NHL Network. Continue reading →

What are the World Hockey Championships? A really fun international hockey tournament! I wrote a primer for it here. You can find the official site for the WHC here.

When can I start watching? Today! The NHL Network is showing Sweden vs. Russia at 10:00am Eastern. That’ll be followed by Team USA vs. Germany at 2:00pm Eastern, then a rebroadcast of Czech Republic vs. Canada at 8:00pm Eastern.

What happened last year? Brad Marchand and Team Canada won gold! They defeated Finland 2-0 in the finals in Moscow, Finland taking Silver. Russia lit up Team USA 7-2 in the bronze medal game. Kazakhstan and Hungary relegated to Division I, while Slovenia and Italy were promoted to the top tier.

So the WHC was in Moscow and St. Petersburg last year. Where is it this year? Germany and France are co-hosting in 2017, Köln (Cologne) in Germany and Paris in France. Asterix and Obelix are the mascots.